


Lathbora Viran

by phoenixodinseye



Series: The Legacy of Thedas [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age Lore, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:29:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29884602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixodinseye/pseuds/phoenixodinseye
Summary: Kaidan Lavellan was supposed to live a normal life. She was supposed to protect her Clan and take up Keeper Isthimaethoriel's position, but it seems the strings of fate decided long ago she was supposed to be the hero to save them all. As first the Herald of Andraste, then the Inquisitor, she will take on the forces of ancient evils and find the world can be so much bigger than the one she was born into.
Relationships: Briala/Celene Valmont, Dorian/Iron Bull, Female Hawke/Isabela, Leliana/Female Warden (Dragon Age), Sera/Lavellan, Solas/Lavellan
Series: The Legacy of Thedas [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197263
Kudos: 4





	Lathbora Viran

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! This is my first-ever Dragon Age fanfiction, and I am super excited to get it going. I have more projects on the way other than this fanfic, but I plan to update it semi-regularly. “Lathbora Viran” will feature triggering subjects such as death, murder, and drug abuse as the fanfic goes on and Lavellan becomes close with the cast of characters in Inquisition. There will be a trigger warning at the beginning every chapter containing sensitive material. My goal is to recreate the magic that I feel whenever I play Dragon Age as the fandom waits with bated breath for the next installment. This series features a retelling of Dragon Age: Inquisition with my own canon Inquisitor, her canon decisions, and her canon romances. It is truly a love letter to Thedas, because it has done so much for me over the years.
> 
> While this fanfic will try to stay as lore-abiding as possible, there will be some possible detours as we explore the dynamics of the setting, characters, and interactions. If you enjoy my content, please bookmark, comment, and leave kudos! I love hearing what you guys have to say about my work, for better or for worse.
> 
> \- Phena

It was cold.

The biting metal that clung to her wrists. The stone floor beneath her that sucked the heat from her skin. The absence of the living from within her makeshift cell. Sharp pain ripped through her tender skull and a headache fogged her brain. She couldn’t remember what caused it. The last thing she remembered was the crowd of people. Talking. Arguing. Then, the great commanding presence that was the Divine…

 _Ow_.

Something between claws and a pair of the softest spider legs drifted across the fabric of her mind. It was a jolt of shock that promised knowledge she did not possess. A reminder of something she could not remember no matter how hard she focused. Quiet voices broke her from her thoughts. A pair of emerald eyes opened to see two shadowy figures peering at her through the bars like hungry wolves. If she was scared before, she was terrified now. The elf hugged her legs and pressed her back fully against the wall, but it was not enough. The soft click of the lock was all the invitation they needed to invade her space and hoist her to her feet.

Back home, she was the second to the Keeper - Kaidan Lavellan. She was an iron voice with a will to match. If her clanmates pictured her captured, they would see her writhing and screaming to contest her captors. That vision could not be further from the truth. The fight in her heart was replaced with confusion as the two figures dragged her into another room. One shoved her into a chair while the other locked the door behind her. If she had control of her hands, she could break out of this. She could cast a fireball or summon a spirit…

But Lavellan did not have control. The two figures owned this scene, and they were using it to their advantage. They seemed to know what she was capable of, or were afraid of what she could be. Soldiers of some kind dotted the corners of the room with threatening steel.

“Tell me why we shouldn’t kill you now.” A human with short, black hair stepped into the weak pool of light before her. Her unfamiliar accent grated against her ears, the venom within her tone enough to kill a dragon with a single word. There was an emblem on her gleaming armor. A sword with an eye. A Seeker.

The spitfire she was known for sparked in her breast for the first time that day. “As if shems normally need a reason to kill an elf,” she retorted fiercely. Her head snapped to the side as her wily tongue earned her a quick, rough backhand from the warrior. It held power enough only to surprise her. They didn’t want to hurt her, it was clear from that single touch.

Still, the second figure leapt forward as soon as the contact was made. A purple shroud cloaked her strawberry hair. Blue eyes were cutting beneath her hood as she placed a hand on the warrior’s arm. “Enough, Cassandra.”

“The Conclave is destroyed, Leliana,” the one named Cassandra continued, grief evident in her voice. While she took a step back, her black eyes were still on the elf’s. “Everyone who attended is dead. Except for _you_.” The final word left her like a curse, earning her an intensified glare from the prisoner.

Shock stormed within her breast as she registered what Cassandra had said. This Conclave was supposed to be an event to bring peace among the world. Diplomats from all over the world had attended - human, elf, dwarf, and qunari. They were just...dead? “What are you talking about?” She croaked. The sting of her cheek was now the furthest thing from her mind as she probed her captors. She didn’t remember an attack. She didn’t remember anything between now and the Conclave meeting...

“She doesn’t know.” Leliana’s voice was more familiar, more common. Orlesian. In fact, she recognized her...She was the one who had been watching the Divine like a hawk in the corner of the room. Lavellan had been scouting for any signs of a trick, but the only thing she found was the Divine’s Right Hand playing the ever-loyal guard dog.

Understanding crossed Lavellan’s mind. “You think I did it.” Of course they did. Her jaw set and her nostrils flared as she snarled at the two of them. “Let me guess, you threw the first elf you saw behind bars? Don’t you know I’m-” All at once, the anger flushed from her, replaced by agony unlike anything she had felt before tear open her palm. Green light flickered like flame within her open hand, causing the soldiers within the room to immediately unsheathe their swords and point them at her. Tears pricked her eyes as the burning subsided, leaving her head hanging and her muscles quaking for a breath. She had been wanting to say ‘innocent’, but whatever just happened only incriminated her. What had just happened? What was wrong with her? She could never do that before-

“Explain this!” Cassandra growled in return. She clasped her hand around the wrist that had sparked with green energy and waved it as if further proving her point.

Tears pricked her eyes. Her brain seemed to melt as it hurried to process this entire situation. She wanted to go home. What kind of nightmare was this? “I can’t,” she whimpered, staring just as incredulously at her palm as Leliana was. “I don’t know...I don’t know,” she pleaded with a watery voice.

“What do you mean you can’t?” The pressure had left her wrist as Cassandra skulked around her like a predator with prey. It did nothing to ease the pressure within her chest or the swelling of the tension around them. Her voice only continued to become more accusatory, more furious.

“It means I _can’t_ ,” Lavellan retorted with desperation. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how it got there. All I know is I can’t remember anything...I barely know what happened at the Conclave!” There was a flash of brightness behind her eyes. The fleeting sensation of a hand holding hers. It was gone within the second it arrived. She couldn’t hold down the memory or recall it at will; it was as if it were locked within her without a key. How could she explain this sort of disorient? How would this prove to be anything but more evidence that she was as guilty as they said? How could she know that she HADN’T murdered these people? _I didn’t. I didn’t. That isn’t me._ She felt insane. She felt lost.

Lavellan cringed back as she prepared for another strike by Cassandra, who had stopped before her again with murder in her eyes. “You’re lying.”

The struggle of leather against metal made Lavellan look to see Leliana standing between her and the brutish woman. She was strangely calm. It was as if she were the only one who could quell the rage that threatened to overtake this room. “We need her, Cassandra,” the red-head reminded her. “We can’t find out what happened if we kill our only lead.”

Cassandra opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something in response. She could see the conflict on her expression as she stared with intense anger at Leliana. However, instead of riling herself up again, the fire died within her eyes and her shoulders set. The emotion fled her face as she risked another look at Lavellan. _You’re lying._ The words had gutted the elf as effectively as a sword. Redness outlined the dullness of her eyes as she stared past Cassandra, lost within the quake of her own self-doubt and fear. “All of those people.” The words left Lavellan like a whisper. She blinked once, twice. Her eyelids fluttered like moth wings as she fought for purchase in the physical world. “Dead.” _Because of me? Because of what? What did I do?_ She hated that she could not remember. She hated that she could not prove her innocence. She could feel the figurative blood wet on her hands. It was especially acidic on the hand that glowed like a green star.

“Do you remember what happened?” Leliana was now in front of her, kneeling before her like one would a child. Her patient, gentle voice called to her and broke her from her drowning paranoia. “How this began?” She continued helpfully. Her blue eyes were attentive. They were a chance for her to prove she was not a monster.

Lavellan wet her lips with her tongue. They were as dry as ash. She did not respond for a moment. When she did, it was as if she were in a haze. “I...I remember running.” Her body relaxed against the chair as she focused with all of her might on the flash of yellow-green light...the touch of a calloused, feminine hand...then, a new sound: the click of pincers. “Things were chasing me. I was terrified. I didn’t know where I was, why I was there...Then...A woman.”

“A woman?” Leliana’s eyes widened. They beckoned for more. She was enraptured by this tale, and Lavellan could tell that she believed her.

She believed her.

Hope lightened her chest, giving her the courage to continue more confidently. “Yes. A woman was reaching out to me. She was trying to save me. Then...then…” Her voice faltered. She had reached the end of this vision. It was blackness after that. Nothing.

Her disappointment was short-lived as Cassandra commanded for attention again. “Enough.” Her voice was calmer now, but the graveness of the situation still remained furrowed between her sculpted brows. “Go to the forward camp, Leliana. I will take her to The Rift.”

Lavellan hesitated as Leliana rose to her feet to obey. It seemed whoever this Cassandra was, she called the shots. She was a leader and she embodied a leader’s spirit. It was almost admirable if she wasn’t so fucking terrifying. The idea of going anywhere with Cassandra was not appealing to her, but her ears pricked at the mention of a rift. A rift in what? The word was like a siren’s song. The burn in her hand was sweet now, just a prickling of interest. If anything, she had to see this thing to know what to say to Keeper Isthimaethoriel. Relief flooded her senses as the Seeker unbound her cuffs. Her skin was uncomfortably red around her wrists. The elf rubbed them as she rose to her feet. She didn’t want to ask, but she had to know. The question thundered inside of her, begging to be answered. “What is it? Where are we going?”

Cassandra stopped once she had her hand on the knob. She hesitated. The woman turned to Lavellan then, her eyes troubled. What the hell had happened that no one could answer such a simple question?

“It will be easier to show you," the Seeker admitted. Before Lavellan could ask another question, Cassandra slipped across the threshold, leaving her with more questions than answers.


End file.
